13 Games That Shaped Our Love For JRPGs! (featuring JRPG YouTubers) | Backlog Battle

[@BacklogBattle]

Here's the list of all of the wonderful KZbinrs who took part in this video! ChadOfStats - youtube.com/@ChadOfStats Hallowed Be Thy Game - youtube.com/@HallowedBeThyGame chicken fillets - youtube.com/@chickenfillets The Gaming Shelf - youtube.com/@TheGamingShelf Kraftium - youtube.com/@Kraftium Miss Bubbles - youtube.com/@MissBubbles Lady Pelvic - youtube.com/@PelvicGaming Cullen - youtube.com/@cullen The Kiseki Nut - youtube.com/@TheKisekiNut SuperDerek RPGs - youtube.com/@SuperDerek Davidvinc - youtube.com/@davidvinc orbalology - youtube.com/@orbalology Go visit their channels and show your support!

[@HallowedBeThyGame]

An honor to be apart of this. Long live JRPGS!

[@ChadOfStats]

I guess you could say, today you are.........HonouredBeThyGame XD

[@nateralus]

FFVII, you are a good man

[@BacklogBattle]

Long live JRPGs! Thank you for being a part of this collab! Hope we can do more soon ;)

[@HallowedBeThyGame]

@@BacklogBattle heck ya! Count me in 🔥🤘

[@gamesdottom]

@@BacklogBattle you got a bunch of great people to do this. Most of them I subscribed to already. Adding me to your backlog battle!

[@davidvinc]

Thanks so much for having me on Alex, this was such a fun time!

[@BacklogBattle]

Always great to have you on! What a wholesome bunch!

[@whiteiswong]

Loved this video and no offense to any other contributors but David is the best |-))))

[@SuperDerek]

What a fun video! Thanks for having me on to talk about my RPG addiction, Alex! Awesome to get to meet so many other creators this way! :D

[@JaminWarrenPMS]

How did you manage to have a win98 machine in the early 90's?

[@SuperDerek]

​@@JaminWarrenPMS lol, good question! I said "early 90s" but I must have _meant_ late 90s. In the _early_ 90s I was still in 2nd or 3rd grade. 😛

[@tylermatthews5440]

Happy to see you as part of this video Derek. Been watching your channel for a while. Thanks for representing the Breath of fire series! BOF 1 and 2 were such pillars to my RPG passion growing up in the SNES era. Ryu approves!

[@viceanterra3]

All my fav jrpg creators supporting eachother lately is heartwarming. Keep up the collabs y'all!

[@dantesparda4493]

Breath of Fire. My very first JRPG. God the memories are so blessed to have. I really felt like I was going through the adventure as a kid.

[@orbalology]

Thanks for having me on Alex! It was cool hearing everyone's picks! 😄

[@BacklogBattle]

You're very welcome! I greatly appreciate your contribution and sharing your experiences with Trails!

[@Kyoyaxcloud]

For me it was Tales of Symphonia, Atelier Iris, and Shadow Hearts 2. Although if I HAD to pick one that made me fall in love, it was probably Tales of Symphonia.

[@culIen]

Glad to be a part of this, great work everyone ^-^

[@BacklogBattle]

Thanks for bringing your unique perspective along with you for this video! Can't wait to play some Mega Man RPGs soon!

[@CamuiNox]

I was hoping for a mention of KH2. That one hit me hard as an angsty teen, and my love for games and RPGs in particular has helped me through a lot of low points ever since. Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy and Pokemon pretty much feature in most of the good memories I have of my teenage years, and I'm always glad to hear of similar experiences from other gamers. Thanks for the great video, everyone!

[@ChadOfStats]

All the appreciation and thanks to you Alex! Thank you for having me and for allowing me to gush about Persona 5. JRPGs Forever!

[@chickenfillets]

Thank you for having me on Alex and talking about the JRPG that shaped it all for me!!! 😊

[@alexterieur8813]

Where r u from?

[@chickenfillets]

@@alexterieur8813 Scotland :)

[@alexterieur8813]

@@chickenfillets i was hesitating between scotland and ireland! Thank you 😊

[@chickenfillets]

@@alexterieur8813 anytime! Thank you for checking out the video!

[@GenerationPixel]

See, not even a whiff of FFVIII, when I'm right, I'm right. And I'm always right 😂

[@TheKisekiNut]

Thanks for having me on mate! Was a pleasure as always!

[@BacklogBattle]

I loved your story! It's why I chose Ys VIII as the cover!

[@MissBubbles]

For the love of JRPGs let's go! Always an honour to be here. Thanks Alex 💜

[@BacklogBattle]

Always welcome, miss! Looking forward to doing more collabs with ya!

[@mystic865]

I'm glad there is Trails series mentioned. It's one of the best jrpg series ever made.

[@Black_Excellence]

Secret of Mana started the spark. Chrono Trigger lit the world on fire shortly afterwards.

[@redstratus97]

Super Mario RPG introduced me to JRPGs. Final Fantasy 7 got me hooked on them.

[@PapaDragonMK]

Squarenix & Atlus solidify my love for JRPGS, but now Falcom/NIS amaze me with this new gems for me. All the love for this magical genre.

[@guruthosamarthruin4459]

Yeah, Square was my first, but now I'm all about Falcom, and Square barely even means anything to me anymore. I'm keeping an eye out for what Dragon Quest 12 will be, but that's pretty much it.

[@FredHerbert999]

Enix, Square, and most of all, Working Designs. RIP WD.

[@glimmeringharpy]

Nice list! Thank you for the YSVIII reminder!

[@BacklogBattle]

You're welcome! I'm playing Ys VIII on the side right now!

[@IXArcanine]

It was Christmas of 1998 and my grandmother was asking at her local Walmart what a good game for a nine year old kid would be. The person working recommended Legend of Legaia. I loved that game so much and so did all my friends growing up. So to that we have all been rpg junkies for twenty five years now. Thanks grandma.

[@MazinPaolo]

Love this type of content. It makes the content creators feel like a community rather than a series of one-person shows. Somehow it's like one of those articles you would find in gaming magazines of old in which everyone of the writing team works chip in.

[@BacklogBattle]

Here's the list of all of the wonderful KZbinrs who took part in this video! ChadOfStats - youtube.com/@ChadOfStats Hallowed Be Thy Game - youtube.com/@HallowedBeThyGame chicken fillets - youtube.com/@chickenfillets The Gaming Shelf - youtube.com/@TheGamingShelf Kraftium - youtube.com/@Kraftium Miss Bubbles - youtube.com/@MissBubbles Lady Pelvic - youtube.com/@PelvicGaming Cullen - youtube.com/@cullen The Kiseki Nut - youtube.com/@TheKisekiNut SuperDerek RPGs - youtube.com/@SuperDerek Davidvinc - youtube.com/@davidvinc orbalology - youtube.com/@orbalology Go visit their channels and show your support!

[@alexterieur8813]

Loving all the crossovers with all the jrpg channels. I hope there is no drama further down the line in this online community

[@BacklogBattle]

We're all doing this because we feel that sometimes, our viewers think that we work in a vacuum. These collabs are a way for us to show that our community is larger than one person, with more people joining every day!

[@alexterieur8813]

@@BacklogBattle its very fun, hope it continues to be a somewhat present trend to make us learn about new creators

[@PelvicGaming]

Thank you having me! I'm happy I joined in finally! ^^;;;

[@BacklogBattle]

Finally! Thank you for being a part of this awesome collab! You've touched more people with your choice than you know!

[@theevildude666]

Oh man great video with two of my favourite youtubers. Hallowed and Superderek=)

[@rudidellama3718]

Xenogears was my first JRPG and also the one that shaped my love for the genre, even after more than 20 years and still is in my personal fav

[@BacklogBattle]

I still have fond memories of its combat system! Really cool stuff!

[@RwnEsper]

Wow, so many people that I watch. And even better, a few new voices! Thanks for hosting this one Alex! I cut my teeth on Dragon Warrior when it first released, but Final Fantasy was the one that I couldn't stop playing, or thinking about, to the point where after playing it I had to OWN an NES; renting once every month or so was not going to cut it if I wanted to see the end of Final Fantasy or any of the other games I was so rapidly growing to love. Also, Dragon Warrior 3 did some serious work in terms of selling me on the broader potential of the RPG genre and the relative freedom it offered.

[@BacklogBattle]

Wow! Renting an NES just to play RPGs was probably quite expensive!

[@RwnEsper]

@@BacklogBattle Yeah I don't doubt for a minute that the only reason I got to own FF1 originally was because rental was getting too pricey. My NES was second hand, I'm pretty sure my grandma paid $20 for it in 1990, and it still works, mostly.

[@femtrooper]

Such a wonderful video full of memories! I think my answer would be Pokemon Red and Blue but honorable mentions to Super Mario RPG and Earthbound!!! Loved this video!!!

[@potentialada]

Loving these collaborations! My first exposure to JRPGs was a game called Ninja Boy. Not the greatest game ever but gave me that sense of adventure going around the world map and having a story. Where they became my main genre was after playing ff4, totally blew my mind!

[@Mike55690]

It's always nice seeing the diversity amongst creators and other people who play games alike! This was really well put together Alex, stellar work! :)

[@Eagleknight815]

Excellent video! It's great to see everyone share their stories on how JRPGs have shaped their worlds and their channels. I'm just going to say this, I'm an old guy! Mine, was Final Fantasy 4 or was that two? The original Final Fantasy was my introduction but playing Cecil and his story shaped that love. Like Derek says, tons of late nights, have a bags of chips and so many soda cans!! Excellent times.

[@Road_to_Dawn]

Oh man, Ni no Kuni 2! Thank you Miss Bubbles for your segment because I had forgotten all about this game! I never got far at all, but I really quickly fell in love with everything I saw so much as I played. I got distracted by something else and never got back to it. Add that to the top of the “pick me back up” pile! Nice to see Cullen here too! I played a few of the Battle Network games as a kid, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard of MegaMan Star Force before. Sounds pretty good!

[@OGirst]

It was a few rather unknown PS1 games that sparked my love of JRPGs. Guardian's Crusade, Legend of Legaia and Grandia (a little better known). Absolutely entrancing memories from these

[@rush1209]

Ultima 4: Quest of the Avatar on the NES was also my first JRPG, and Final Fantasy my second! Nice to find someone else who had a similar experience. It did get me to play the western PC version of Ultima 6: Exodus and started my love for CRPG as well. Also, I think in the 90's, people didn't distinguish JRPG or CRPG as they did today, and it was just RPGs.

[@MrDarksol]

WOOO I SPY KH2! Love that game so much, still the best in the series and my favorite and final mix makes a better game even better! Also YS 8 is a fantastic game and so can't wait for 10! A very soild list there Alex and friends!

[@mjdolorico]

As a kid I had a PS1 but didn't have the resources to seek out a variety of games so I ended up just playing platformers and racing games. I did however stumble upon two games that I remember fondly and gave me my first taste of the RPG bug: Legend of Legaia and Digimon World 3. As heavily flawed as those games were, they introduced me to the concept of turn based gameplay and adventure-centered stories and although I stopped gaming for 20+ years, those games left such a mark on me that when I finally got to treat myself to a Switch two years ago, I immediately tried searching for an RPG to play that delivers on the promise of grand adventures that Legaia and DW3 attempted to do, and that led me to Xenoblade Chronicles, which cemented my love and started an obsession for the genre.

[@DHamblen]

Love these collaboration videos, I get to see other games point of view and learn about other amazing KZbinrs that I can follow

[@Oggre]

So many Jrpg gave me that love but my first ones were Pokemon red and blue and they got a special place in my heart. Awesome video !

[@salsamonkey65]

Absolute A list guests! Love everyone here! Other than Pokemon, my pick would have to be Mother 3. Love the story in that game so much

[@rmgb-tv]

For me it was Skies of Arcadia - I was growing tired of whiny introverted protagonists and dark worlds. I played the (very generous) Skies demo on a magazine cover disc and fell in love with it because it was so bright and vibrant. The main trio of Vyse, Aika and Fina were so outgoing and friendly and there was no brewing angsty romance between them. It was around the same time I also discovered Miyazaki's Laputa: Castle in the Sky as well and the two fit together very well.

[@solutionxero]

i already know most of these youtubers from looking up JRPGs, but, really great cast and great game choices!!

[@RedtheEdge]

After thinking about it, for me Final Fantasy 6 would be the one. An incredible world, wonderful characters, and an amazing plot twist half way through the game. The story that it tells is top notch and just clicked really well for me.

[@100Servings]

Hey Kraft! Looking forward to that Raidou 2 review!

[@sarahpod]

Awesome collab video!! Thanks.

[@PersonWhoIsTired]

What a wonderful video with diverse defining games for each creator. My own are from different eras. My first defining game was Pokémon Gold. It opened a new path for me as a young boy to a vast world of video games. I spent an insane amount of time playing it. Restarted it a lot, and never got bored. Then comes the redefining games starting with: Mario and Luigi: SuperStar Saga and Mega Man: Battle Network. At that point in my life, I didn't had knowledge of Super Mario having RPGs. It truly became a cornerstone to my adoration for the genre. Made me learn how turn-based can be besides the classical way, a story be fun and energetic yet be always grasping for my attention, and how even an iconic franchise as Super Mario can evolve past its platformer dna. A marvel of an RPG. I started Mega Man Battle Network with the third game. And what being able to do what they did in the animated show was a wondrous feeling. The Netnavi concept was always a unique idea, that I imagine myself with one. Then I stumbled upon Battle Network and my mind blew up. To say that I became obsessed is an understatement. I'm one of the few fans for the series. And ecstatic that the Legacy Collection is finally releasing. Here comes my third refining JRPG and is Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World. A controversial title in the Tales franchise, but I deeply love it. My first Tales, and even with no knowledge of the prior adventure, I continued to have a blast with its world, characters and combat system. The battle system in particular mesmerized me. I never thought a JRPG can be so complicated yet simple with fun mechanics unique to them. That is the Tales series. And for DotW helped me adore writing, specifically character writing. Emil as a protag is one of my favorites and Richter is an evocative antagonist. Whatever people say, this game transformed my perception of what a game can do, and my beginning of being a Tales fan. Lastly this last game not only refinined my love for JRPGs/RPGs but video games overall. Tales of Berseria. This game is my favorite game of all time. A breathtaking masterpiece in which I cannot get enough of. Each year, since it's release I have replayed the journey. The emotional and thought provoking plot, story and world building, the magnificently done character writing, a immensely addicting battle system with one of the best mechanics I had the pleasure to indulge in, with a beautiful world, fantastic OST, all coming together to create a sublime work of art. And to say the cast for Tales of Berseria is my favorite is speaking too lightly. The main cast being the most perfect array of misfits has turn around my perspective of what a group of people in a story either be from a game, book, film, show can be. They are very special to me, and will forever be my supreme. My preference to video games has been what they are meant to be, for the gameplay, the fun of it all. The interactivity they bestow us that other media can't simply replicate. But Tales of Berseria was able to make the impossible happen, and rip open my third eye. Gameplay is still king to me, but now, story is also on the forefront thanks to it. Berseria also became my first favorite game of all time and it hasn't been dethroned. Not to say other titles haven't come close, but Berseria is an entire beast all of its own. It refined what a game is to me from every standpoint.

[@d_shuffles]

Great community topic video!!! Shout out to Pokémon Blue!! That was my first game, Fire Emblem got me into the genre of JRPG but id say FF15 what got me into the classics.

[@RomanJr316]

Awesome video with awesome people. Final Fantasy 7 was the RPG that started my love and journey of RPG’s

[@djdavis1420]

The first JRPG I saw played was FF7. The first I played was FF8, which remains my favorite FF. The JRPG that hooked me and remains my favorite game of all time is Xenogears.

[@devinreed21]

The very first Dragon Quest game, back then called Dragon Warrior, made me fall in love with the genre. I still go back and beat it every once in a while.

[@BacklogBattle]

Classic!

[@Kraftium]

Thanks a bunch for letting me join in on this one Alex :D

[@BacklogBattle]

That was super fun! Thank you for talking about KH2! I've already seen a few people talk about it!

[@WinspearUltima]

Such a fantastic video, it’s so much interesting to share everyone’s games that got into RPGs, For me the game that got me really addicted to RPGs was Chrono trigger and Final Fantasy, and with that I explored JRPGs like Xenoblade chronicles, dragon quest and persona.

[@Mclearmountain]

My first exposure to JRPGs was a Pokémon title on the Gameboy. A few of the games that impacted me for my future love of the genre were Kingdom Hearts 1, Final Fantasy X, and Dark Cloud!

[@CBZero]

orbabology Trails in the Sky FTW!

[@Tebsteroni]

This is fantastic and really informative. Thank you for this video

[@HybridAngelZero]

Loving these collabs everyone has been having lately, it makes me so happy hearing everyone's stories with RPGs. For me, of course I got into RPGs with FFVI, Super Mario RPG and Final Fantasy Legend, but I think it was Xenogears that changed my perspective forever not only for RPGs, but just what kind of themes and ideas a work of fiction could tackle, and it got kid me seriously thinking about some of the things it addressed. And nearly two decades later, Xenoblade 2 would do something huge for me, too. At a time when things weren't great in my life, it not only healed me in an almost spiritual way, but showed me that I could still fall in love with games and the stories they tell the same way I did as a kid and teen, the game is just as precious to me as many I played in those formative years, and opened my heart once again to the warmth and healing games can bring to us

[@NakamiJun]

The very first JRPG I ever played was Phantasy Star. Then a 1st person turn based battle system game with a overhead travel map. Though it wouldn't be until Phantasy Star 3 that my jaw dropped at the sheer storytelling within it (where you actually went through 3 generations of characters). Final Fantasy 7 was the first one I could (mostly) play on PC without an emulator and as someone who hasn't owned a lot of consoles that was also very important.

[@maximebenoit4388]

Cool to see Orbalology here ! The only jrpg youtuber missing is PlayerEssence

[@cassiodvieira]

It was Pokemon Yellow for me. I remember I was gifted the game for my birthday, but I only played it a year or so later because I was intimidated by the type of game it was. Once I played it, I was hooked. I put so many hours into it, and even got my party of 6 all to level 100.

[@javierjambay95]

This is like de Avengers, glad to see Kiseki nut, orbalology and SuperDerek

[@acidwizard6528]

For me it was the original Final Fantasy on NES. I had played Dragon Warrior first and liked it, but the 4 member party, class system, more involved storytelling and grand scope of adventure in Final Fantasy drew me in and hooked me.

[@starlordyeezus6985]

Super Mario RPG!!! I received my bros SNES as he had moved on to PlayStation. If I wasn’t playing Legend on the 7 stars I was watching him play FF7 which I was a bit jealous, he wouldn’t let me touch it because I was still to little in fear I would break it. Now as an adult I don’t blame him lol. But man I’m glad I grew up when I did. I experienced so many games and wish I still had half of them.

[@saoakden92]

The first JRPG that really got me interested in the genre was Tales of Symphonia. I think Pokemon Silver was actual JRPG but ToS story blew me away from what I use to playing at the time. I feel in love with characters, the story, the gameplay and to this day the Tales of series is my favorite JRPG series.

[@israelmorales838]

I’m fairly new to your channel but I’m hooked. Love the fact that you brought others to contribute on this video. Also, going back to look at your past videos and enjoying those as well. The hidden gem vids are great as well as anything related to RPGs. For me the Secret of Mana hooked me on RPGs but FF7 sealed the deal forever. Unfortunately, I have a huge backlog of RPGs that I’ve bought. Just finished Live a Live and now on ff crisis core and octopath 2 is next. Looking forward to pixel remaster and sea of stars as well.

[@ShadowWolfRising]

I saw someone play Star Ocean: The Second Story when I was a wee lad, And I took the whole game in as I watched each session. The Beautiful Pre-Rendered Backgrounds, the Music, the cool character designs, THE CHOICE IN PARTY MEMBERS, the Cheesy Voice Acting, the Gameplay, just all of it. It was what drew me to the genre. To this day it is one of my favorite games and one of my favorite game franchises. ........But it was not the game that sealed my love for the genre. I went into a used game shop and saw it as a kid, Looking through the various Games, picking them up, looking at the back for some details and screenshots for any context. Then I Picked that magical game up. 'Recruit over 108 Characters.' Child Me's Mind was Blown by that, I knew this was the one (After scanning the other games again, as I was and still am indecisive.). That game was Suikoden 2. The Music, the Characters, the friggin' Story, It had everything Child Me could want (And Current me obviously.) It took me a few years to realize it, but eventually I had realized that I did indeed love the game more than Star Ocean: The Second Story. I still have yet to find a game I can say is better, I'm not sure I ever will.........but.....'Eyes Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes.'.....There might be a chance yet.

[@wpelfeta]

I've had a long history of JRPGs, but I wouldn't have said I was a JRPG fan until recently. The very first game I ever played was Pokemon Red as a kid. I had never owned a game before, and I remember being stuck in the house, because I had no concept of what a door looked like in a top down pixel game. But I never really thought of Pokemon as an RPG. The first JRPG that I really played was Golden Sun. It was the first time I got hooked by the characters and story in an RPG. Before that I mainly played just for fun, and not for the story. That's what got me into RPGs and storydriven games. But at that time, I hadn't really made a distinction between RPGs and JRPGs. They were all the same to me, I just liked RPGs. The first time I discovered the term JRPG was when I played Final Fantasy IX for the first time on an emulator. I loved the game. Back then, JRPGs didn't really exist on PC, and I was primarily a PC gamer. I never bought another console after my GBA, and so my love for JRPGs kind of fizzled out. FFIX awakened me to these beautiful anime-style RPGs that I hadn't played in years. Unfortunately, there were no JRPGs available for PC. I played a couple JRPGs on emulators but my PC wasn't very good and I had crashing issues with emulators. FFIX was the only JRPG I actually finished on an emulator. One of the first JRPGs I ever saw on steam was Agarest Generations of War and I bought it on release. I never beat it though. I played a bit of it but then it just collected dust on my backlog to this day. It wasn't the best game of all time. A bit later, I bought Recettear. But neither were really as great as FFIX and my interest sort of disappeared for another long while. Instead, what actually got me into JRPG for real was... FFXIV. It was the first JRPG I got into on the PC and it completely rekindled my interest in JRPGs. Ironically I wasn't even interested in JRPGs at the time, I just wanted to play a MMORPG that wasn't WoW. But FFXIV was able to tell a story that I had never experienced before. A story so long and a world so detailed that it was truly one of its kind. I had to get more of it. Only now, JRPGs are everywhere on PC. And that's what truly got me into this world.

[@rafaelrodriguez8922]

Cold steel was my first legend of heroes and that was set me on my jrpg backlog battle 😉. Now on other jrpgs. Thanks for this video all you guys and girls I can feel the passion.

[@InnocentSoul0283]

Phantasy Star for the Sega Master System was the first RPG that I ever played and it was a family bonding moment as both my dad and my mom played this game for months and it was to a point where my dad would write down everything said by NPCs to charting every dungeon map in the game. I sat and watched him do this and eventually, I started playing it at the age of 6 and I fell in love with the genre. While Chrono Trigger may be my favorite RPG of all time, Phantasy Star kindled my love of the genre from the very beginning.

[@sinisterdesign]

Final Fantasy 4 was the game that first hooked me on JRPGs, but it was Final Fantasy 6 that made me a lifer (and right around the same time that Shining Force did the same to me with SRPGs, in fact!)

[@SonplaysMinEcraft]

love to see star force getting the love it deserves

[@Luhvlylizzy]

Great list!!! For me the game that sparked my love for JRPGs would be Star Ocean 2

[@RafaelLoki]

FFIV and Chrono Trigger are my start in the SNES era. I loved how SNES introduced many of my fav types of rpgs that later become my stardant in PS1 era (With Valkyrie Profile, FFT and BoF 3). But Suikoden 2 and SMT 3 are what conviced me I will play JRPGs as my main genre.

[@wertigon]

Mine is probably Breath of Fire 2 for a "true" JRPG. Living in Europe during the SNES years, we were literally starved for good JRPGs. I had played Zelda, Soul Blazer, Secret of Mana and Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest before, but no "real" turn-based JRPG. That all changed when I got my hands on Breath of Fire 2. I *loved* that game to the death, I think I played through it four times, got all the tenants (around 30 all in all), all the carpenters, and managed to figure out many of the game secrets on my own. It was a blast! :)

[@OtterloopB]

I see Ys VIII. I click 'like.' It's one of the greatest video games, not just RPGs, I've ever played. #danaforever

[@murruelaflaga]

My first JRPG was Pokemon & Digimon for the longest time until I got into the likes of Crystal Chronicles, Kingdom Hearts 2, and .Hack//Sign. I still play all of these game series to this day. Though I have certainly branched out since then. Currently I've gotten back into JRPGs thanks to Trails of Cold Steel & Atelier Ryza. There are so many games on my list I want to play now. I still have a number of Persona games to finish too - looking at you Persona 3 & 5.

[@Arcky76]

My love of JRPGs was ignited with Dragon Warrior (Quest) 1!

[@stephengoodman9058]

I've been gaming for decades but only got into the JRPG genre last year so this is an easy one for me to answer. I'd been drawn to them for ages but it took DQ11 appearing on PS+ for me to dive in. I sunk over a hundred hours into it and enjoyed it enormously. I particularly loved Erik and Sylvando, but all the characters were well done. I've since finished Octopath Traveller, an equally enjoyable experience and have FFXVI on pre -order. One thing I particularly like is the music in these games. I think there's a real art to it because you hear it repeated so often but it doesn't get annoying for me - that's not easy to do. I also think the way the that DQ11 moves from the fanfare to the gentle menu music is wonderful. Maybe a future video on music is an option? I 'd love to discover what are considered the best JRPG scores.

[@BacklogBattle]

Thank you for your wonderful comment! I’ve certainly toyed with the idea of a game music list, but have to be careful because of copyrights! That said, it’s always been on my mind and I think this would be an incredible thing to make!

[@stephengoodman9058]

@@BacklogBattle Yeah, I can see how that would be tricky. I believe the composer of Dragon Quest is a bit of a 'character' and very hot on copyright infringement. I understand people have to be paid for their work, but I think some kind of relaxation would allow content creators to make some really great stuff.

[@GJPGAMESvideos]

Tales of Symphonia on the Gamecube was my first JRPG that got me to love all kinds of RPG's

[@ethankim9161]

I have too many to count lol. Pokémon ruby, ff4, golden sun, fire emblem sacred stones. High school me ended up just mainly playing Pokémon and fire emblem but another game that comes to mind that put a resurgence of jrpgs in my life was octopath traveller. Hope this genre never dies!

[@MondoNifty94]

The JRPG that i think shaped my interest in JRPG was definitely Suikoden series, especially suikoden 2. Purchased the game of recommendations from the game store. I still remember how good the story is and the idea of getting a base to call my own, and a lot of characters to collect and play was the most fun i've ever had in gaming and truly got me hooked on JRPG since

[@UltimaHolyFlare]

I can trace my love for JRPGs in general as far back as the original Dragon Warrior (Dragon Quest), though my love of games in fantasy settings and for RPGs originate with Adventure for the Atari 2600, early text based games, and AD&D. But it was Final Fantasy II (IV) that solidified my preference for the RPG genre. The only games I ever paid full price on day on release was Final Fantasy III (VI) and Chrono Trigger on the SNES, at $75 each.

[@Grethmic]

It was great to hear all the JRPG Tubers, especially HallowedBeThyGame cause I watch his stuff all the time. I guess you couldn't snag Erick Landon RPG for input.

[@BacklogBattle]

This is the first time I've ever spoken to Ren, but I'm definitely now a fan of his work!

[@HallowedBeThyGame]

Happy you enjoy the videos! This collab was awesome to be in!

[@Grethmic]

@@BacklogBattle I always end up buying one or two things from his top lists videos. Every recommendation he made I have thoroughly enjoyed.

[@Turbo_Waitress]

I’m loving all these collaborations!!

[@jday7512]

Mine is Tales of Destine on ps1 :”) I’m so happy to see my other fave jrpgs on the list

[@Mor3dr3ad]

It may have started with pokemon, but the game that solidified my love for the genre is my favourite game to this day: Skies of Arcadia! Where is that remake Sega?!

[@BacklogBattle]

Hear hear! Where is that remake?!

[@CTSael]

While Chrono Trigger may have been my first ever video game thanks to my older brother (and is still my #1 favorite to this day), the one that really defined my gaming preferences and shaped my love for its genre was Dragon Warrior Monsters when I finally got my own Gameboy. The funny part in hindsight was that this was during the 90’s Pokemon craze and I had also received Pokémon Red at the time, yet it didn’t draw me in like the mechanics of DQM did. All my childhood friends were playing Pokémon and I accepted that they weren’t so keen on the game I preferred, so I stuck with Pokémon too for the sake of my social life. I still have a soft spot for Pokémon and continue to be a fan of the franchise, but having variety in my creature collecting is what kept my eyes open to other games in the monster taming RPG genre. Now we have the likes of Monster Hunter Stories, Nexomon, Monster Sanctuary, etc. and I couldn’t be any happier with seeing my favorite genre grow. In my eyes, however, the Dragon Quest Monsters series still reigns supreme.

[@CRedd9830]

Paper Mario N64 was my first JRPG but the game that solidified my love for the genre is Panzer Dragoon Saga.

[@foxirelle8841]

growing up in the 2000s, the only JRPG that was really popular among kids was the Pokemon series. This would TECHNICALLY be my first foray, but at the time, I never knew what a JRPG was. To me, Pokemon was just Pokemon. Fast forward to middle school (early 2010s) WRPGs and D&D were just about everywhere, and I wanted to be a part of that, but with no friends to play D&D with, and finding Skyrim boring as all unholy hell, I was kind of at a loss when it came to role-playing culture. Over the next few years, I tried to get into JRPGs, putting a few hours into games like FF4, DQ8, Dark Cloud, etc. But when I graduated high school in 2017, I got Persona 5 for my 19th birthday, and with it being the first JRPG that I beat while knowing what the genre is, I fell in love with not only P5, but JRPGs as a whole, and the rest is pretty much history lol

[@shiroyan2710]

My first experience with JRPG is FF1, it made me fell in love with the genre and it also made me wanting to play more JRPGs.

[@pierrelewis6819]

An jrpg that I like the most, is final fantasy tactics advance.

[@NintendanGX]

I'd played and enjoyed games like Pokemon, the Mario RPG's and even Baten Kaitos in the past, but the two games that truly got me into the RPG genre were Xenoblade Chronicles and Shin Megami Tensei III Xenoblade Chronicles not only exceeded my expectations, but it dethroned every game I'd played before it as my all-time favourite, something I'd never thought possible. It pushed the boundaries of what the Wii was capable off, and is an overall masterclass in world design and storytelling, carefully foreshadowing all its plot-twists constantly from beginning to end. The combat system was reminiscent of MMO's at the time, but incredibly newcomer-friendly and easy to learn, and the game actively rewarded players for every new location discovered while exploring the country-sized titans the story took place on. Its unique blend of dark sci-fi with high-fantasy also helped it stand apart from its contemporaries. As for SMT III, I discovered it 8 years after its release, and it was a breath of fresh air compared to more generic and conventional JRPG, and the perfect game to try out after I'd grown tired of Pokemon for its stale experience and never growing with its audience. While it's a turn-based RPG through and through, with monster-collecting to boot, what made it so different from everything else on the market was its more mature content, moody atmosphere, and pure mania for the occult. Your enemies and allies were demons from all sorts of folklore, pantheons, religions and urban myths, with descriptions of their origins akin to the Pokedex. Recruiting demons through negotiation was addictive enough, but where it really hit its stride was with Demon Fusion, forcing players to merge two demons in order to create a more powerful one to keep up with the increasingly-difficult challenges ahead. I also loved how older SMT games didn't present their conflicts as Good VS Evil, instead forcing the player to explore a dangerous world and decide for themselves which alignment was the lesser evil based on their own morals, and then making choices and taking actions reflecting said morals. No risk of any shounen anime clichés popping up, and no done-to-death "boring hero rises to save the world from an evil darkness". While those stories can be done right, I appreciated SMT for providing an alternative and really making me ponder my own beliefs with some really difficult moral quandaries, something that's unfortunately alluded the franchise from SMT IV onwards.

[@Dualblades47]

For me, it would be Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, and Megaman Battle Network.

[@lambertar]

My love for RPGs also started with the original Final Fantasy on Nintendo. And then, I discovered something I liked even more when I got Shining Force II for the sega genesis which cemented my love for SRPGs ❤.

[@fiftyten84]

Final Fantasy IV for me. The awesome story, the large cast of characters, the music... Was hoping to see more SNES greats in this video, like FFVI or Chrono Trigger.. but a lot of good games covered nevertheless. No shortage of good entry points to the genre in 30+ years

[@amaru5858]

Hmm... I was exposed to some JRPGs early on but I think it was Final Fantasy VII that really brought them into my life but I would say overall I think Tales of the Abyss on PS2 was the game that really shaped my love for JRPGs

[@Rain-ro4qn]

My first Jrpg was Pokemon Blue, at that time I did not even knew anything about genres, I'd play anything which ran on my Windows 98 machine, or whatever my brother bought, Pokemon included. The "Jrpg" I remember buying myself was Fire Emblem Sacred Stones and was hooked to FE since then.

[@karlmueller1980]

The first Jay RPG, that I ever finished all the way through was Final Fantasy nine because prior to that I played mostly fighting games played formers beat them ups and occasional schnapps and shooter. But then I started diving into RPG‘s like trails of cold steel persona four. The first Zelda game that I really fell in love with was ocarina of time that’s the one that I put in the most hours in and then I played more like link to the past DX.

[@Luigi1010]

Super Mario RPG Legend of the Seven Stars

[@Welshy974]

Very good list.

[@otame4771]

Ys VIII is my favourite JRPGs of all time if Monster Hunter series isn't included.... I love this game so much it made me play all of the other Falcom games... and now I even fell in love with Trails... especially with the Cold Steel series... I find it a bit hard for me to play Sky though, maybe because of its outdated mechanics...

[@KingofBattle8174]

Great list of games to get people into the genre everybody. For me I would have to say Dragon Warrior 1 for the NES.

[@BacklogBattle]

Classic!